Lodgers Jailed For Abuse

Two men who groomed and abused four boys at the home they shared have been convicted and sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court recently.

Andrew George Mawer, 67, of Ilford and his lodger Darren Leslie Smith, 39, deliberately targeted young and vulnerable boys. Both have been sentenced to a minimum of 20 years imprisonment.

After an 8 week trial Mawer was convicted of 10 counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, attempted rape and three counts of rape. These convictions relate to four boys aged between 13-16 years old which occurred between 2006 and 2011. He was also convicted of possessing indecent photographs of children.

Smith was convicted of 13 counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, 12 counts of rape and 2 counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child. These relate to the same four boys. He too was also convicted of possessing indecent images of children.

The court heard how Mawer would identify and contact potential victims by surfing the internet and engage in online chats with young boys before encouraging them to meet him in person at train conventions or transport museums. Once they had met, Mawer would then invite them to his home with Smith. Smith would then try to impress the boys with smart phones and computers.

Mawer would give each of the boys mobile phones to maintain regular contact with them. Both Smith and Mawer would offer the boys gifts and money and ply them with alcohol before persuading them to undress and perform sexual acts which progressed to rape.

It was only when the boys came into contact with one another that they realised the scale of the abuse and reported the men to the police. The Met’s Sapphire Command Complex Case Team launched an investigation and both men were arrested. Detective Chief Inspector Carl Mehta who led the investigation stated that ‘Sapphire aim to provide supportive services to victims…we want all sex offenders to know that our dedicated teams are there to trace and pursue them until they are brought to justice.’ He also paid tribute to the courage of each of the four victims for reporting the abuse.

Since this conviction further victims of abuse by these men have come forward and the Sapphire team continue their investigations in the hope of securing further convictions against them. At present the number of victims remains unknown and this catalogue of abuse by these men appears to span a number of decades.

If you have been the victim of abuse and would like to speak to a specialist child abuse lawyer, please contact the abuse team for free and confidential advice.